Cleveland Orchestra Scandal: Update

As I wrote last September, the Cleveland Plain Dealer created a scandal when it demoted its staff classical-music critic, Donald Rosenberg, to general arts-reporter status because of his overwhelmingly negative reviews of the Cleveland Orchestra—specifically its conductor, Franz Welser-Möst. Now Rosenberg is suing the Plain Dealer, the orchestra, and specific staff members of both organizations, detailing a conspiracy in which the orchestra put massive pressure on the newspaper. We give you the details, as listed in Rosenberg’s public suit.